Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has sworn to assassinate Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported.
According to the newspaper, Berlusconi learned of the assassination plot through 'reliable sources', though the prime minister did not elaborate.
Berlusconi said Gaddafi was not referring to his 'political death', but to his physical death, the paper said.
'Because that's what he (Gaddafi) decided, he swore to this himself,' Berlusconi was quoted as saying.
Libya has been rocked by fighting between pro- and anti-Gaddafi forces since February. An international military operation began in March following a UN resolution and has been extended till September. Italy has been playing an active role in the military operation.
Ali Tarhouni, a rebel minister, announced that the assassination of Gen Younes had been conducted by "renegade" members of the Abu Obeida al-Jarrah brigade which had taken Gen Younes into custody on suspicion of treason. He pledged an immediate investigation.
So secretive is the Abu Obeida al-Jarrah Brigade - said to be one of at least 30 semi-independent militias operating in the east of the country - that until yesterday few in the rebel capital had ever heard of it.
The fact that it takes its name from one of the Prophet Mohammed's companions and most successful military commanders is itself alone an indication of Islamist bent, observers say.
Unlike the other militias, the Brigade seems to exercise considerable power within the rebel movement. Since Gen Younes's death, it has emerged that the group was in charge of internal security in Benghazi, essentially operating as a secret police force.
Its influence was further underlined by the fact that the TNC charged it with the extraordinarily delicate task of arresting Gen Younes, who served as Col Gaddafi's internal security chief until his defection at the start of the rebellion, and brining him back to Banghazi for questioning.
The commanderh ad apparently been accused of passing battlefield plans to his former superiors in Tripoli.
#4
Yesterday I mentioned how Jordan and Israel were stable not having the riots. Then I saw a riot in Israel with a one banner larger than the rest of Che Guevara;
As masses of revolutionary Arabs prepare for a different Ramadan this year, the holy fasting month is not equally welcomed by their rulers who are bracing for more tensions amid a wave of unprecedented uprisings sweeping the region.
#1
The holy month of Ramadan has witnessed many Arab and Muslim victories along the history.
Even in the modern history, Egypt defeated Israel in 1973 war, which occurred on the 10th of Ramadan, restoring Sinai Peninsula from its occupiers.
But then, still during Ramadan, Wikipedia sez -
Within a week, Israel recovered and launched a four-day counter-offensive, driving deep into Syria. To relieve this pressure, the Egyptians went back on the offensive, but were decisively defeated; the Israelis then counterattacked at the seam between two Egyptian armies, crossed the Suez Canal, and advanced southward and westward in over a week of heavy fighting.
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/31/2011 11:42 Comments ||
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#2
So if its mooselimb vs. mooselimb, then everybody wins?
#3
Introducing the all new 2012 Revolutionary Ramadan updated from the classic Spring Version. Longer, lower, wider and costing only a tad more, this Revolution is here to stay!
Left passenger tire extra, inquire within, post no bills.
Posted by: S ||
07/31/2011 14:17 Comments ||
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A suspected leader of the Juarez drug cartel told authorities he had ordered the deaths of about 1,500 people, a Mexican federal police official said Sunday.
Federal police detailed accusations against Jose Antonio Acosta Hernandez, known as "El Diego," a day after authorities announced his capture. He was one of the country's most wanted criminals, with officials offering a reward of 15 million pesos ($1.3 million) for his arrest.
Collaboration with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration led to Acosta's detention, said Eduardo Pequeno, head of the Mexican federal police anti-drug unit.
Acosta is accused of being a leader of the drug gang known as La Linea, the enforcement arm of the Juarez cartel, Mexican authorities have said.
Pequeno told reporters that Acosta "said he ordered the killings of about 1,500 people, mostly in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua's capital."
An investigation points to Acosta as the mastermind behind the March 2010 killing of three people connected with the U.S. Consulate in Juarez, Pequeno said.
More recently, Acosta ordered operatives to hang banners with threatening messages directed at the DEA and other U.S. authorities, Pequeno said.
Juarez, Mexico's most violent city, shares a border with El Paso, Texas.
A CLEANING business owner used Facebook to threaten to ''kill all Christians and Jews'' and bomb Sydney, police allege.
Khaled Zakaria, 30, faced Parramatta Bail Court yesterday charged with one count of using a mobile phone to menace or harass and two counts of making hoax threats using a mobile phone.
In documents tendered to the court, police said Mr Zakaria, of Greenacre, threatened to bomb intelligence agency ASIO, stab officers at Goulburn's super-max jail and ''get'' officers at Bankstown police station under the Facebook profiles Kay Zee, Khaled Ibn-Al Walid and Khaled Ibn-Alwalie.
Notwo
Not wise. That kind of thing tends to annoy targets required by law and nature to do something about it.
Police alleged Mr Zakaria posted threatening comments on the Ban the Burka and Sharia for Australia Facebook pages, including: ''There's going to be a big bang in the City of Sydney on 30th of July, 2011. Watch out. Bang Bang.''
Following Mr Zakaria's arrest on Friday by officers from the joint counter-terrorism team and the Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad,
Ooooh, can we get one of those? Think what they could do to our little Hizb'allah organized crime problem...
police searched his house and car and seized two mobile phones and other related items.
Mr Zakaria's lawyer, Derek Druitt, told the court his client may be a victim of mistaken identity because he employs three people, one of whom has a similar name and initials. He said the ''hoax'' messages were posted using a work phone used by everyone at the company.
Magistrate George Zdenkowski refused bail, saying the protection of the community is at stake. Mr Zakaria is expected to appear at Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday.
Congressman Darrell Issa on Friday told NRA News that he is planning at least two more hearings on Operation Fast & Furious this year before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and that he will follow the investigation “up.”
Issa, in the telephone interview with NRA NewsÂ’ Ginny Simone, audibly marvels at the testimony from former Phoenix Special Agent in Charge William Newell.
You can play semantics all you want. Very clearly, four agents all knew what was being done was gun walking while the agents involved tried to defend that this wasnÂ’t technically gun walking, but the guns walked and people died.
Issa also said that the White House has not cooperated “in any way, shape or form” with the investigation. Documents requested from the Justice Department have frequently been completely redacted, or so heavily redacted as to render them useless.
#1
They're following standard lawyer practice - deny & delay. So, Mr. Issa, what are you going to do about it? What CAN you do about it? D**ned little.
#2
Contempt citations for un-produced and overly redacted documents. The trick is to get mid-level bureaucrats on the hook for jailtime and loss of pensions if they don't roll on the higher-ups
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/31/2011 14:55 Comments ||
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#3
Like the amazing product that is both a dessert topping and a floor wax, Obama has managed to become both Carterous and Nixonian. Impressive, but not in a good way.
#4
If Issa is frustrated he should think about how frustrated the citizens of the United States are with Issa. Issa is the only person outside BO's political machine that has the power to issue a subpoena that cannot be quashed. In about two hours time one of his staffers could write the 6 subpoenas that would settle all the issues of eligibility that continue to fester and divide our country.
As far as the NRA they have been sitting back and taking notes. They are very effective at what they do and "Gunrunner" has given them the ability to defeat any gun control legislation for at least 40 years. The anti-gun folks don't like the overwhelming statistics that prove gun control increases crime and inversely more guns equals less crime.
The democrats political machine has shown by "Gunrunner" they will facilitate mass murder, engage in crimes against humanity and when caught tell the house of representatives and the American people to pound sand; all to create a crisis that would be bootstrapped to get legislation for firearms confiscation. All those involved deserve the needle just like McVey. The NRA will be more than willing to rub the democrats nose in "Gunrunner" for generations to come.
#5
The gun grabbers in the administration are trying to create a false issue in order to introduce even more restrictive firearm legistlation--probably aimed at gun dealers.
One key person in Operation Gunrunner seems to be White House National Security Director for North America Kevin O'Reilly. Newell talked to him about this operation. How much did he know? Apparently Op Gunrunner was a multi-Federal agency initiative. Issa needs to find out who in the various agencies was involved and who involved them. Issa needs to go on up the chain. Someone authorized this operation. It is looking more like Holder/Obama.
Issa may be trying to keep this mess before the public as long as possible to eke out political advantage prior to election time. The Donks are going to have to distance themselves from Obama or defend Obama's attempt to neuter the 2nd amendment. Either way it will be an awkward and difficult issue for the donks.
#6
Eventually the gun dealers who let the guns walk, regardless of whether the BATF told them to or not, will be prosecuted and shut down. Following illegal military orders or government instructions does not get one off the hook.
#7
Glenmore -- there is already a two year old battle with the govt after Carter Country in Houston over this same issue.And maybe be tied to Gunwalker.
Brought in the big gun.. Dick DeGuerin .. one to watch.
The days when faking driver's licenses was a cottage industry -- often practiced in college dorm rooms by a computer geek with a laminating machine -- have given way to far more sophisticated and prolific practitioners who operate outside the reach of U.S. law enforcement.
In an era when terrorism and illegal immigration have transformed driver's licenses into sophisticated mini-documents festooned with holograms and bar codes, beating the system has never been easier.
Just wire money to "the Chinese guy."
"He's like some sort of genius in China," said a 19-year-old for whom Eney bought shots that night. "Every kid in Annapolis has one of his licenses."
The "Chinese guy" -- whose e-mail address is passed around on college campuses and among high school kids -- is actually a Chinese company that mails untold thousands of fake driver's licenses to the United States. They have been turning up in states from coast to coast.
To the naked eye -- even the practiced eye of most bartenders and police officers -- the counterfeits look perfect. The photo and physical description are real. So is the signature. The address may be, too. The holograms are exact copies, and even the bar code can pass unsophisticated scans. A really smart kid, or some government support?
"We're seeing these false IDs being generated from the same source out of China," said Steven Williams, chief executive of Intellicheck, which supplies detection equipment to federal agencies, law enforcement and businesses. "There's a rampant distribution of false IDs . . . from China, from one source."
The IDs have shown up in various states, each license carrying a mysterious hidden tip-off in the bar code that points directly to the same Chinese company.
More than just the rage among underage drinkers, the top-flight bogus licenses are a hot item among practitioners of credit-card fraud. And soon-to-be jihadists.
The shoe box that arrived in the mail from China contained a cheap pair of shoes. "We thought the Chinese guy had ripped us off," said the 19-year-old.
Until then, the transaction had gone smoothly. She made first contact through an e-mail address supplied by the acquaintance. A prompt e-mail reply laid out the deal.
"It was $300 if you just wanted one" license, she said. "It was $200 [each] for two and $75 [each] if you wanted more than 20."
Photos, names, signatures and physical descriptions were e-mailed to the address. Money was collected from friends, many of them former classmates at the Severn School, from which Eney also had graduated, and wired to an address in China specified in the e-mail.
"You can pick from a list of about 10 states," she said. "I heard that the Pennsylvania license was the best one."
The shoe box with postmarks from China arrived in a matter of days. After initial consternation, she flipped over one of the shoes and ripped open the sole. Out tumbled 22 brand-new, visually perfect driver's licenses.
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/31/2011 07:37 ||
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Link ||
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#1
Drat! I see while I started this post at 7:30, I didn't finish it until after Anguper Hupomosing9418 posted the link at 9:24.
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/31/2011 10:51 Comments ||
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#2
Everytime there is fraud coming out of China, we should deduct the cost from our debt to them.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/31/2011 11:22 Comments ||
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#4
The man in Pakistan is using a goat on a treadmill to power his PC.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
07/31/2011 13:08 Comments ||
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#5
Is it faster than the DMV? Hell, is it better quality than the DMV? Let the market decide.
Posted by: S ||
07/31/2011 14:19 Comments ||
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#6
A really smart kid, or some government support?
Someone free-lancing off the government-built library of templates and materials.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
07/31/2011 20:28 Comments ||
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#7
Look for all those people to have really serious stolen identity problems in a few years...except they gave all the information to the thieves. Idiots.
ISLAMABAD: Taking bilateral defence relations to a new high, China will give Pakistan a squadron of the advanced J-10B fighter aircraft, a media report said.
The offer was made by senior Chinese military leaders to visiting Pakistan Army's Chief of General Staff, Lt. Gen. Waheed Arshad, the Urdu daily Jang reported on Saturday, quoting defence sources.
The J-10B fighters are equipped with the latest weapons and Pakistan will be the first country, after China, to have these advanced aircraft, it said.
During his visit, Lt.Gen.Arshad was assured that the defence relationship between the two countries will reach new heights and China's efforts for the safety and security of Pakistan will be never-ending.
During his visit, Waheed called on General Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of general staff of People's Liberation Army and other officials including Lt. General Ren Haiquan, the vice president of the National Defence University.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain ||
07/31/2011 14:34 ||
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[9 views]
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#1
another poke at India. Those jets will never be used against Taliban, Pak or Afghan.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/31/2011 15:18 Comments ||
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#2
Somebody still has to fly the things. Or will the ChiComs provide "trainers and advisors" to do the driving like the Russians did for the Norks during the Korean conflict?
Anyway, Frank: a poke in the eye to India, or a poke in the eye to us? It would definately be a poke in the eye to us if we had an American president who wasn't willing to overlook Pakistan's sheltering of a mass murderer who killed 3000 people ten years ago.
SteveS: Why wouldn't they provide drivers? It's not as if we'd stop shoveling them money and what's left of our manufacturing base anyway.
#7
CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > CHINA SET TO MINE INDIAN OCEAN [seafloor = UW resources], DELHI WORRIED, that China will use such econ ventures to deploy or base PLAN surface warships, etc. in their backyard.
ION SINA ...
* WAFF > CHINA NEEDS [not less than] THREE AIRCRAFT CARRIERS, SAYS PLA GENERAL, to counter the THREE EA. that both INDIA + JAPAN are anticipated to have in 2014.
IIUC, IOW China + PLAN may actually need minima 6-8, since a possib "worse-case" scenario for PLA MilPLanners would be China waging a major mil conflict agz BOTH INDIA + JAPAN IN TWO-FRONT WAR, EXCLUD THE US???
* CHINA DAILY FORUM > JAPAN REPORTS CHINA SHIP NEAR DISPUTED ISLANDS [Japan Senkakus = Chin Daoyus].
The mighty BEIDOU marine research-survey vessel strikes again - install a few modern weapons + she could be as feared as the BISMARCK.
SINK THE BEIDOU, SINK THE BEIDOU ...
* SAME > SINOPHOBIA ON THE RISE IN THE PHILIPPINES: PRESIDENT AQUINO SAYS PHILIPPINES WILL NOT BE "BULLIED" BY LARGER NATIONS.
Read, CHINA.
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > IRAN TO INCREASE ECON ASSISTANCE TO SRI LANKA; + FOUR NATIONS VIE FOR RIGHTS IN SRI LANKA.
#8
In retaliation you always need 3 aircraft carriers otherwise it's not militarily viable. 1 in repair, 1 in habour, 1 in action??? DUH! i will take the piss, now shit looks on edge.
#11
second these "shoddy made aircraft of the USSR" were doing a fair job of killing your guys in nam. They have caught up since then (i.e. my comment since then 'US debt crisis') and are now overtaking you. Those migs owed you guys in comparison to number of population to plane to death ratio. Russia is poor as fuck though, aparently a threat, but i doubt. China is number one, but they're not that threatening given all there monetary superiority.
In another sign of breakdown Pakistan government has decided to place travel curbs on American diplomats.
This is another sign of the breakdown in ties between the countries since the American raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
A letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent to the American Embassy states that all diplomats must now get special permission to leave the capital.
The restrictions would appear to be a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. It requires host states to allow foreign diplomats freedom of movement in the country except for restricted areas.
According to Foreign Office sources, there is no plan to restrict the movement of US diplomats. Lies! All Lies!
All security agencies are evaluating possible life threats to diplomats. Enhanced security will be provided to all Saudi, US, British and Iranian diplomats.
The CIA's Islamabad station chief, who oversaw the intelligence team that uncovered the late Osama bin Laden's ... who is now neither a strong horse nor a weak horse, but a dead horse... hideout, has left Pakistain for medical reasons, a US official said.
The CIA declined to comment on the matter. "The chief of station is a respected, senior officer who had the full faith and confidence of folks back in Washington," the US official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"Most people will agree the officer's role in one of the greatest intelligence victories of all time means this person was pretty darn effective, no matter what the Paks may think."
ABC News, citing US and Pak officials, said the officer who headed one of the Central Intelligence Agency's most sensitive positions worldwide was not expected to return.
It was the second such departure in seven months from the post, after his predecessor was forced to leave when a Pak official admitted his name had been leaked.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/31/2011 01:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
Iraq will ask for future defense contracts to include provision for trainers, bypassing MPs to allow some U.S. soldiers to stay past a year-end pullout deadline, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said.
Maliki also told reporters on July 30 that he had revived talks to purchase 36 U.S. F-16 fighter jets, rather than the originally mooted 18, in a multi-billion-dollar deal that has been on the cards for several months.
"Training missions do not need the approval of parliament," the premier told a news conference. "The government will include in agreements to purchase weapons that there should be trainers to train Iraqi forces to use these weapons." How many trainers?
Oh, about 10,000.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/31/2011 15:21 Comments ||
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#4
Iran is pleased as punch! They own Iraq, haven't you heard? Them F-14 are getting beat up, yanno,
it's a special gift from the Keynesian Kenyan Kannibal in the White House...what are friends for?
Blast on pipeline is third this month, fifth this year; masked men attack police station after riding through el-Arish, waving flags with Islamic slogans.
After gunmen attacked the Egyptian gas pipeline in the northern Sinai on Saturday -- the fifth such attack in the past six months -- an Israeli energy expert said he believes that Israeli officials and the country's major gas consumers have all but "given up" on that source of natural gas.
"According to the partial information we have, this explosion only affects the export of Egyptian gas to Israel," Amit Mor, CEO and energy specialist at the Eco Energy consulting firm, told The Jerusalem Post on Saturday night. "It was directed against Israel and will not affect future supplies of gas to Jordan, Syria and Lebanon."
During Saturday's attack, the saboteurs used rocket-propelled grenades to puncture a hole in a section of the pipeline that normally directs gas to Israel, but whose supply had not yet been resumed from the previous attack, on July 12, Reuters reported. The gunmen arrived in two trucks but sped away from the site after being confronted by Egyptian troops.
"It is crucial to Israel that the Egyptian government establishes security control, especially in northern Sinai -- and especially at the crossing point in Rafah on the Egyptian- Gazan border -- to prevent the smuggling of an arsenal against Israel, and also to secure the natural gas pipeline to Israel," Mor told the Post. "I think the major consumers and government all have given up on the supply of Egyptian gas to Israel." Lucky for Israel that they just happened to find major gas deposits off shore in the Med.
The gas supply to Israel had been due to resume shortly, according to Mor.
"While important for geopolitical and economic reasons, Israel can do without that gas -- although the public will pay much higher prices, especially for electricity, in the short term," he said. "It is a major challenge to the current -- and any future -- Egyptian government to maintain sovereignty in Sinai."
Mor added that the Egyptian gas situation would be a bellwether of future policy emanating from Cairo.
"The resumption of the full contractual obligation of gas supply to Israel can be used as a test-case of the Egyptian government to maintain its international obligations visa- vis foreign direct investments in Egypt on the one hand, and its future relations with Israel on the other," he said.
#1
Hopefully, the Israelis will work overtime to get the natural gas fields in full operation. This is so important to their national security that they should even be willing to subcontract with a multinational to do it quickly.
Not an easy thing to do. The pipeline will have to remain deep underwater until it reaches a secure port facility. Then even that port facilities main branch lines will have to be underground.
An Indonesian court has sent a "chilling message" by giving Muslim extremists light sentences for a vicious mob attack in which three sect members died, rights activists say. Twelve people stood trial but none faced murder charges in what human rights campaigners say is a travesty of justice in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country.
It depends on how one defines justice, you see. When it means "Infidels are to you as a field of grain for reaping, as a sheep for shearing," and "For the apostate, death," then this whole affair looks a bit different.
The sentences range between three and six months' jail - less than prosecutors had sought and well below the maximum penalty of 12 years.
Dani bin Misra, a 17-year-old who repeatedly smashed a victim's skull with a stone, was sentenced on Thursday to three months in jail for manslaughter. Idris bin Mahdani, who led the 1500-strong mob in the February attack, was convicted of illegal possession of a machete
But not illegal use of a machete, an important point.
and received five months and 15 days in jail. Most of the convicted men are likely to walk free within weeks, observers said.
"The Cikeusik trial sends the chilling message that attacks on minorities like the Ahmadiyah will be treated lightly by the legal system," Human Rights Watch deputy chief for Asia Phil Robertson said. "This is a sad day for justice in Indonesia."
The violence against the Ahmadiyah sect members in Cikeusik, western Java, was one of the most horrific in a long line of attacks on the minority group in Indonesia in recent years
The violence against the Ahmadiyah sect members in Cikeusik, western Java, was one of the most horrific in a long line of attacks on the minority group in Indonesia in recent years.
Ahmadiyah, unlike mainstream Muslims, do not believe Mohammed was the last prophet and are regarded as heretics and blasphemers by conservatives in countries such as Indonesia and Pakistan.
A secretly filmed video of the Cikeusik rampage sparked international concern when it appeared online within days of the attack. The reaction in Indonesia, however, was muted.
The footage shows police fleeing the scene as the enraged mob - armed with machetes and knives and shouting abuse at the "infidels" - launched an unprovoked attack on a house owned by an Ahmadiyah follower.
A handful of Ahmadiyah men tried to defend the property with stones and slingshots but they were quickly overwhelmed. Then the killing began. The mob clubbed and stoned their defenceless victims to death in front of police, then stood around and joked over their shattered bodies. Several Ahmadiyah tried to flee but were hunted down and badly beaten.
Robertson said the appalling "savagery" demanded a strong response from a country which has ratified international covenants on freedom of religion and claims to have a pluralistic religious tradition.
And so they do. But that was then, when the Dutch ruled here, and their cooks competed in turning out amazing rijstafels. After came the dictators, who had been educated in Dutch schools. Now they rule themselves, and anyway traditions are something for the old folks to mutter about into their tea.
"But instead of charging the defendants with murder and other serious crimes, prosecutors came up with an almost laughable list of 'slap-on-the wrist' charges," he said. Prosecutors managed to convince the court that the video justified a reduced sentence for the killers.
See how times have changed. In the old days they didn't have YouTube to mess things up for innocent rioters.
Meanwhile Ahmadiyah member Deden Sujana is facing up to four years in jail on charges of incitement, disobeying police orders and maltreatment because he ignored police orders to evacuate the house.
Ahmadiyah spokesman Zafrullah Ahmad Pontoh was cautious in his response to the sentences. "Let the legal power handle the case. It's only a worldly punishment," he said. "We'll forgive those who ask us for forgiveness, but so far we haven't heard them asking us for forgiveness."
The graphic footage, which is available on the video-sharing website YouTube, was filmed by an Ahmadiyah follower who mingled with the attackers and watched his friends being murdered. The man is now in hiding under police protection, fearing for his life.
Outcry ensues after dancer raises Lebanese, Israeli flags in front of 90,000 at French music festival.
A Lebanese belly dancer has placed herself at the center of a cross-border war of words after performing at a French musical festival with an Israeli metal band, and brandishing the Israeli and Lebanese flags. Johanna Fakhry, 22, says she can't return to her homeland following threats from her family and compatriots for appearing on stage with the band Orphaned Land in front of 90,000 fans at the Hellfest festival last month in Clisson, France.
YouTube video at the link. I'm afraid I can't figure out how to embed it here.
Amateur video of the performance has amassed 20,000 YouTube views over the past month. The clip shows Fakhry wearing traditional garb and waving a Lebanese flag while dancing around lead singer Kobi Farhi as he sings in Hebrew. She then stands next to the singer and helps him raise a significantly larger Israeli flag.
"This is all about peace, my friends," Farhi tells the crowd as the two performers hold the banners up alongside each other. "We are all brothers and sisters. Now I want to see all of you jumping and party with us, okay?" The crowd responds with cheers and heavy-metal "devil horns" signs, and as the tempo picks up both performers jump up and down holding their flags.
With its mix of heavy metal and Middle Eastern influences, Orphaned Land has amassed a following in the region far beyond the most esteemed Israeli cultural ambassadors. Fans from Turkey, Bahrain and Iran regularly turn up for the band's concerts in Europe.
"That phenomenon creates a loyal audience that stays with us, and even endangers [the audience's] own life," Farhi told The Jerusalem Post. Indeed, several years ago Egyptian authorities sentenced a fan to six months imprisonment for "Satanism" after he was found with an Orphaned Land CD.
The singer said the idea to make a political point onstage had been entirely Fakhry's.
"This dancer contacted me on Facebook and said she wants to perform with us. Of course we said yes, and then she suggested we wave the Israeli and Lebanese flags," he recalled. "I told her, 'We'd love to, but we think it might endanger you, and expose you to a lot of criticism.' She said, 'I know. Bring the flag -- this is my choice, and I want to use my art for the sake of peace.'" With Israel and Lebanon technically at war since 1948, Lebanese law forbids citizens to have contact with Israelis. Fakhry was born to a Muslim family in southern Lebanon, but has lived in France for most of her life and has French citizenship.
"Of course there were many negative responses -- that's not a shock -- but to our surprise there were also many, many positive responses," Farhi said.
He said he received Facebook messages ranging "from calling her a whore who sold the flag to the Mossad, to Lebanese who said they were moved to tears, that we expressed their hopes and dreams that we can all live here in peace."
Fakhry has refused to recant. A response attributed to the dancer posted by New York-based Israeli blogger Roi Ben-Yehuda said, "I wanted to take this opportunity, so rare in history -- witnessing on stage an Israeli group and a Lebanese dancer -- to say that beyond the artistic exchange and our collaboration for the love of art, we were willing to make it a symbol of peace.
"And these two flags that we held as high as the fist can rise, transcends all these years of war and suffering. We both experimented, endured the vicissitude of this never-ending war. But we belong to this new generation -- those who behold far the horizon, who open the boundaries," she wrote.
"She can't go back to Lebanon now," Farhi said of the singer. "She stands behind her decision, she has no regrets. I'm in touch with her every day, and we're performing with her once more in France in August. She may even come to Israel," he said. "Our last names are very similar -- she's Fakhry, and I'm Farhi. The letters got switched at some point," he added with a chuckle.
Attempts to contact Fakhry went unanswered Thursday, but the day before she told Channel 2 News in a short web interview that her family had barred her from returning to her country of birth.
"People started criticizing me, threatening me, saying they'd kill me -- even my family," she said.
"They'd say things like, 'You should be ashamed of yourself -- never come back to Lebanon.' But I'm dealing with it, as long as I still have support from people I love."
That same day, she told the website NOW Lebanon, "As a young child living in Lebanon, I, too, thought of Israel as an enemy, now I consider them friends. We are all one people.
"I want to tell my fellow Lebanese that I am proud of my roots and my country and who I am as a Lebanese. I will always raise the colors of my flag with great pride. Please understand me before you judge me. I don't regret what I did on stage because my actions were delivering a passionate message of freedom and peace," she added.
1) She would always be under threat of murder in Lebanon, no matter what, so she might as well be part of the 70% or so of Lebanese who have left Lebanon for good.
2) And right now, she can make her fortune by belly dancing with a Jewish band, while giving the finger to the fanatics in her homeland.
Worked that way for Gloria Estefan, too, whose father had been a member of Batista's security detail, so her whole family had a death sentence on them in Cuba.
#4
I believe you are correct on that 70% figure. They don't want freedom for their people because then they would lose control. In another post I mentioned that the English are struck by the good down home English the rebels speak on the Telly.
They seem to have a large population of Libyans in Manchester.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has sworn to assassinate Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported.
Ali Tarhouni, a rebel minister, announced that the assassination of Gen Younes had been conducted by "renegade" members of the Abu Obeida al-Jarrah brigade which had taken Gen Younes into custody on suspicion of treason. He pledged an immediate investigation.
ISLAMABAD: Taking bilateral defence relations to a new high, China will give Pakistan a squadron of the advanced J-10B fighter aircraft, a media report said.
The CIA's Islamabad station chief, who oversaw the intelligence team that uncovered 
Iraq will ask for future defense contracts to include provision for trainers, bypassing MPs to allow some U.S. soldiers to stay past a year-end pullout deadline, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said.
After gunmen attacked the Egyptian gas pipeline in the northern Sinai on Saturday -- the fifth such attack in the past six months -- an Israeli energy expert said he believes that Israeli officials and the country's major gas consumers have all but "given up" on that source of natural gas.
An Indonesian court has sent a "chilling message" by giving Muslim extremists light sentences for a vicious mob attack in which three sect members died, rights activists say. Twelve people stood trial but none faced murder charges in what human rights campaigners say is a travesty of justice in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country.
